Noise/Hum: The Saga Continues

  • Thread starter Thread starter FourT6and2
  • Start date Start date
Ratou":3ljd6tko said:
I don't know much about the various issues that can be caused by bad grounding/wiring in your house/apartment, but didn't you say you used to have to have a PRS with passive electronics that was dead silent plugged in that same setup? Moreover you had this that you had this problem in different apartments in different cities you lived in? For me that rules out any problems related to the electrical installations of your apartment...
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I agree. Which means the cause of the noise is still a giant freakin' mystery. :lol: :LOL:

Unless the issue is that my guitars are not shielded. My PRS was shielded from the factory. Shielding supplies arrive from Stew Mac tomorrow. So I'll know if that works later this week.
 
1meanplexi":9yju5l5g said:
Hey Mike!

Humor me and try a ground lift. 89 cent three prong adapter. ground off the outlet.
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Yeah that's a fantastic way to get killed if the HT in the amp shorts to chassis.
 
MississippiMetal":3ng2rgv4 said:
1meanplexi":3ng2rgv4 said:
Hey Mike!

Humor me and try a ground lift. 89 cent three prong adapter. ground off the outlet.
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Yeah that's a fantastic way to get killed if the HT in the amp shorts to chassis.
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Meh, I'm still alive. And lifting the ground didn't make a difference either way.
 
"JSP" stopped by today and brought one of his guitars. He said it was definitely noisier than through his rig at home. There was a good amount of hum/buzz even with his guitar. When touching the strings both his guitar and my guitar sounded the same—bzzzzzzz.

But when NOT touching the strings, his guitar didn't make any additional noise. Whereas, my guitar did exhibit more hum when not touching the string.

We popped the back off his guitar and behold... it was fully shielded with foil tape in the control cavity. So that's probably why his guitar didn't pick up any additional noise when not touching the strings.

But there's still an issue with hum/buzz going on, even when touching the strings.

So, it's probably:

1. Bad mains wiring.
2. Pickups are still going to amplify any crazy EM/RF that shielding can't filter out, like WIFI, appliances, power lines, etc.

I'm definitely going to try shielding my guitar. Might help eliminate a bit of the noise, but not all of it.
 
one more thing to consider - what kind of magnets are in your pickups? Ceramic magnets are considerably less noise than alnico's. If you have alnico pu's in the guitar, you might put in a ceramic magnet pickup.
 
dstroud":1n5xeaxg said:
one more thing to consider - what kind of magnets are in your pickups? Ceramic magnets are considerably less noise than alnico's. If you have alnico pu's in the guitar, you might put in a ceramic magnet pickup.
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Should I replace the magnets in the pickups in the other 8 guitars I've tried too lol? :lol: :LOL:
 
FourT6and2":33acwi93 said:
dstroud":33acwi93 said:
one more thing to consider - what kind of magnets are in your pickups? Ceramic magnets are considerably less noise than alnico's. If you have alnico pu's in the guitar, you might put in a ceramic magnet pickup.
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Should I replace the magnets in the pickups in the other 8 guitars I've tried too lol? :lol: :LOL:
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well, it seemed like you were getting various results from various guitars, so I was just letting you know something else that factors into the equation. I've always noticed guitars with alnico magnets are noisier and more susceptible to outside noise than ceramics. I didn't see you had 8 guitars. I thought we were talking about 2 guitars that were noisier than others, hence my suggestion about the pickup magnets being a factor.
 
My guitar has a ceramic bridge pickup, the "baseline" noise (not playing, hands on the strings) was the same. This same guitar at home, even with very, very high gain is dead quiet.

The noise was really way worse than anything I've heard from my amps in any environment I've played before. I'm stumped...
 
Shielded the switch cavity and control cavity with copper foil tape. Didn't bother to shield the pickup cavities. It worked!!!! For the most part.

The noise when I'm not touching the strings is gone. The crackle when I rub the guitar body/cavity covers is gone. The only hum/buzz remaining is probably due to bad mains wiring. And JSP's guitar did the same thing. So I think I've done all I can.

The copper shielding does add a bit of capacitance to the circuit. And I can definitely hear a slight roll-off of the highs. But it's better than lots of hum! :)
 
Nice. At least you're not getting any extra noise from your guitars now. Just need to figure out why your place causes so much hum.
 
Hate to resurrect this but I am in same boat with OP. I have a PRS Custom 24. I have literally been through everything OP has done. Only I am in a new house and the wiring is fine. I have 3 other guitars that when I pkug into my rig are dead quiet.

I have changed pickups, pots, and switches 2 times. I even changed the claw thinking the coating was not allowing a proper fround.

I am at wits end and plan on calling PRS on Monday.

The only other thing I can think of is either the springs, bridge itself are the culprit.

I am mow thinking of grounding the switch to a pot. Wits end people. I shielded the whole cavity still nothing. What gives.
 
Ok so I wanted to add that if I touxh the 3 way blade the buzz/noise gets triple loud. Am I supposed to ground te switch?
 
Yianni54":vo01j3x7 said:
Hate to resurrect this but I am in same boat with OP. I have a PRS Custom 24. I have literally been through everything OP has done. Only I am in a new house and the wiring is fine. I have 3 other guitars that when I pkug into my rig are dead quiet.

I have changed pickups, pots, and switches 2 times. I even changed the claw thinking the coating was not allowing a proper fround.

I am at wits end and plan on calling PRS on Monday.

The only other thing I can think of is either the springs, bridge itself are the culprit.

I am mow thinking of grounding the switch to a pot. Wits end people. I shielded the whole cavity still nothing. What gives.
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The op ended up selling both guitars and moving to a new place. Maybe try that meow? :)
 
tubortski":3ikvzebp said:
Acoustic guitar. The end.
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Agreed^ :D

I went through hell with my Les Paul for the better part of a year. My jam room is in the basement and whenever I would step off of my area rug and onto the cement floor I would become the ground and my rig buzzed like crazy. I rewired my basement which solved the ground issue but my guitar was still too noisy. Found a great tech in the area who rewired the guitar and found the ground wire had somehow twisted and snapped inside the body. Weird shit
 
First off take your gear to a different location and see if it does the same thing. BEFORE YOU SPEND ANY MONEY. If it does, it is obviously your gear. Secondly, turn off and unplug everything in your house except for the amp. This is the reason why. I was recording in my man cave and was getting this annoying hum it was driving me nuts ! I went around and made sure everything in my house was turned off. It was still there. So I started to unplug things from the outlets. It ended up being the t.v in my man cave. I unplugged it from the outlet and bam! the hum was gone. Also about the power conditioners. It is a good unit and if you purchase the good one it is a once in a life time purchase. Even if you stop playing guitar or whatever you can always use it with something else. I purchased the top of the line Furman almost 15 years ago and still have it in my rack. I paid close to six or seven hundred dollars for it and everyone thought I was nuts for that purchase. This is the reason I purchased it, it brings in a consistent current of electricity to your gear which equals consistent tone. That means that you can pretty much count on sounding the same anywhere you may be. As long as the fancy lights say you have the power you need you are good to go. As far as filtering noise ? I have played a few places where it doesn't matter what you have hooked up to your amp if the wiring in the building is not correct your just kind of screwed and make the best out of it. If it was me I would buy a good noise gate first. Secondly save up for the top of the line power conditioner. These are two things you will purchase and should never ever have a reason to sell them. If it ends up being your gear then check your tubes and PURCHASE GOOD TUBES ! that makes a huge difference. Valve Queen is an awesome place for purchasing tubes. I am willing to bet it sounds like the electricity in your home.
 
I have a 79 custom and all the noises you described I dealt with....
Upon inspection I discovered no ground from the bridge..
Drilled the hole, installed the ground and it all went away....
 
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